New windows and glass doors lightened up the once-dark interior of the ranch-style home, while bamboo floors and neutral colors created a relaxed atmosphere. Midcentury modern furniture is featured in the décor.Kristofor Carnegie

New windows and glass doors lightened up the once-dark interior of the ranch-style home, while bamboo floors and neutral colors created a relaxed atmosphere. Midcentury modern furniture is featured in the décor.

Local interior designers, architects, contractors and decorators are invited to showcase a recent residential project in this space. Contact Home + Garden editor Chris Ross,

An Atlanta couple newly retired in San Diego hired me to help them renovate the California ranch-style home they had purchased across the street from their daughter and her family. Their ambition for this fixer-upper was to increase the square footage, open up interior space by removing existing walls, and to incorporate access to patios and xeriscaped gardens with custom-designed features throughout.

The couple wanted a serene, uncluttered interior in harmony with their love of midcentury modern furniture and contemporary design. It was important that the home be warm and inviting with a strength of line. Our goal was to keep the design simple with minimal ornamentation.

The existing home was small and dark, so space and light were key ingredients to the success of the completed renovation. This was achieved by adding many new windows and glass doors to allow in as much natural light as possible, while also integrating a well-thought-out lighting design and electrical plan.

A functional, family kitchen is the heart of the home. Custom zebrawood cabinet doors and drawers were framed with ebony wood and simple black iron hardware, creating a striking visual that complements the gray, glass subway tile backsplash, highlighted with under-mounted lighting.

All of the counters in the kitchen are white quartz, offering a lightness and brightness to the other darker materials in the kitchen. Throughout, carbonized bamboo floors were used as well as neutral tones in fabrics, paints and tiles to create a mellow, relaxed ambience.

Creating one large open space by combining the kitchen, dining and living areas can often cause awkward furniture space planning. It was crucial to the success of the overall design plan that all rooms flowed into one cohesive space yet felt distinct from surrounding spaces. We achieved that with properly scaled and placed low-profile midcentury modern era furniture and multifunctional, movable pieces.

Krysi Diaz, owner of Diaz Design Studio, can be reached at (619) 379-1530 or krysidiaz@gmail.com www.diazdesignstudio.com